Brock Clarke - An Arsonists Guide to Writers Homes in New England

"Wildly, unpredictablyfunny.... Although it is his fourth book, it feels like the bright debut of aningeniously arch humorist, one whose hallmark is a calm approach to insanelyimprobable behavior.... The parodies here are priceless."

-The New York Times

"Funny, profound....Clarke's novel is an agile melding of faux-memoir and mystery. Spot-on timinggives it snap, and a rich sense of perversity ... lends texture. It's aseductive book with a payoff on every page."

-People magazine, Critic's Choice, four stars

"Clarke's novel sizzles.This straight-faced, postmodern comedy scorches all things literary, from thosemoldy author museums to the excruciating question-and-answer sessions that followpublic readings.... They're all singed under Clarke's crisp wit."

-The Washington Post BookWorld

"[An] absurd, if weirdlycompelling faux `memoir,' which takes aim at the danger of storiesat leastfalse ones.... Gets at some unexpectedly poignant emotional truths."

-USA Today

"An Arsonist's Guidecontains sentences and images that could stand beside the works of the formerowners of the literary residences put to flame."

-The New York Times BookReview

"Absurdly hilarious....Searingly funny."

-Entertainment Weekly

"Enormously funny.... Acautionary tale about the strength of stories to burn a path ofdestruction."

-The Chicago Sun-Times

"Darkly comic....Bittersweet and ultimately sorrowful, Clarke's book suggests that we're allsubject to the whims of the stories we tell ourselves."

-Los Angeles Times

"This is a sad, funny,absurd, and incredibly moving novel. Its comic mournfulness, its rigorous,break-neck narrative, delight. Bless Brock Clarke and his spookily humanarsonist. They've given us a wonderful book about life, literature, and theanxieties of their influence."

-Sam Lipsyte, author of HomeLand

"Clarke turns up the heaton New England's classic novelistsand their homes.... Moving andmemorable."

-The Charlotte Observer

"Clarke has the ability tocrack us up with his clever insight into human nature and suburban angst, butthere is also a depth to his characters that helps raise the story abovestraight satire."

-MSNBC.com

"Every bit as quirky andengaging as its title.... Evokes John Irving, with a dollop of Tom Wolfe tossedin for good measure.... Pulsifer's disarming charm and witty insight carry theday."

-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"While I was reading thisdark, funny, tragic novel, I would look at the people around me and feel sorryfor them because they weren't occupying the same world I was; they weren'tliving, as I was, inside the compelling, off-kilter atmosphere of BrockClarke's pages. This is the best book I've read in a long time."

-Carolyn Parkhurst, author of TheDogs of Babel

"Both philosophical anddeeply funny.... Resembles Richard Ford crossed with Borges: a thoughtful,playful exploration of everyday life, as well as a metafictional examination ofthe purpose stories serve in our lives."

-Time Out New York

"Sam's disasters are goodnews for readers ... particularly if they like their comic novels with a sharpedge, witty commentary and hilarious allusions."

-The Miami Herald

"[A] wacky and wildlyimaginative novel.... It's nearly impossible not to care about and laugh withSam. He's a misunderstood outcast, a knight errant on a quest to clear hisname. But in this hilarious and original novel he does much more: He appeals tothe fool in everyone and comforts us in knowing that we're not alone."

-Chicago Tribune

"Part mystery, partcomedy, part insightful memoir, Arsonist defies the conventional formula inproducing a wildly entertaining novel."

-Daily Candy

"Brock Clarke flamesentire genres of fiction in this clever and often hilarious tale."

-Paste

"[A] brilliantnovel."

-People, Style Watchissue

"Sam Pulsifer is now oneof the great nafs of American literature.... [This] rollicking, hilariouslyand subtly heartbreaking novel ... is at the same time a wrenching examinationof what happens when you pry up the floorboards, flake off the stucco, open upthe books and see what's really going on between husband and wife, parents andchildren, friends and lovers."

-TheSan Diego Union-Tribune

"An incisive satire that takeson everything from authors to reading groups and Harry Potter."

-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"A witty, intensely cleverpiece of writing that scrutinizes our relationship with stories andstorytelling.... Clarke composes with panache, packing his pages with offbeathumor, vibrant characters, and tender scenes."

- Utne Reader

"Rousing.... The anticgoings-on and over-the-top characters are so entertaining."

-Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Brock Clarke is ourgeneration's Richard Ford ... [and] Sam Pulsifer is an Everyman suburban nomad,a literary misadventurer who is as insightful and doomed as he isheartbreakingly hilarious.... I love this book."

-Heidi Julavits, author of TheUses of Enchantment

"A loopily shambolicnarrative as captivating as its feckless firebug narrator.... The perfectend-of-summer book, funny and sharp and smart enough to ease the transitionfrom beach to boardroom. Just don't leave it near a pack of matches."

-Village Voice

"It's a blastits storyline rollicking and often absurd, its themes satisfyingly hefty."

-Time Out Chicago

"Like TV analysts whodeconstruct Tiger Woods' swing, it's not easy to do justice to writers likeBrock Clarke. But I know just enough to recommend An Arsonist's Guide toWriters' Homes in New England to anyone, and especially to anyone who wantsto read the best, newest manifestation of great American writing."

-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"A multilayered,flame-filled adventure about literature, lies, love and life.... Sam is equalparts fall guy and tour guide in this bighearted and wily jolt to the Americanliterary legacy."

-Publishers Weekly,starred review

"A subversivelycompelling, multilayered novel about the profound impact of literature....Rendered masterfully by Clarke, Sam's narrative tone is so engagingly guilelessthat the reader can't help but empathize with him, even as his life begins tofall apart within the causal connections of these fires.... A serious novelthat is often very funny and will be a page-turning pleasure for anyone wholoves literature."

-Kirkus Reviews,starred review

AN
ARSONISTS GUIDE
TO WRITERS HOMES
IN NEW ENGLAND

ALSO BY BROCK CLARKE

Carryingthe Torch

WhatWe Won't Do

TheOrdinary White Boy

A NOVEL BY

BROCK CLARKE

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill |2008

Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Post Office Box 2225

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

a division of

Workman Publishing

225 Varick Street

New York, New York 10014

2007 by Brock Clarke. First paperback edition,Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, September 2008. Originally published byAlgonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2007. All rights reserved. Printed in theUnited States of America. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen &Son Limited. Design by April Leidig-Higgins.